New England Resource Center for Higher Education
University of Massachusetts Boston
Graduate College of Education
Wheatley Building, 2nd floor, Room 159
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393
Phone (617) 287-7740
Fax (617) 287-7747

NERCHE Staff

John Saltmarsh, Director
Glenn Gabbard, Associate Director
Sharon Singleton, Senior Program and Research Associate
Richard Iserman, Operations Associate
Andrea Gancarz, Project Coordinator

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John Saltmarsh, Director
john.saltmarsh@umb.edu; (617) 287-7743

John is the Director of the New England Resource Center for Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston as well as a faculty member in the Department of Leadership in Education in the Graduate College of Education. From 1998 through 2005, he directed the Project on Integrating Service with Academic Study at Campus Compact. He holds a Ph.D. in American History from Boston University and taught for over a decade at Northeastern University and as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Feinstein Institute for Public Service at Providence College. He is the author of numerous book chapters and articles on civic engagement, service-learning, and experiential education. His writings have appeared in Liberal Education, the Michigan Journal for Community Service Learning, Academe: The Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, the Journal of Experiential Education, the National Society for Experiential Education Quarterly and the Journal of Cooperative Education. He has served as the guest editor for a special issue on service-learning and civic engagement of the Journal of Public Affairs and serves on the editorial board of the Michigan Journal of Community Service-Learning and the board of the AACU Center for Liberal Education and Civic Engagement.

Glenn Gabbard, Associate Director
glenn.gabbard@umb.edu; (617) 287-7744

Glenn comes to NERCHE as an academic leader, administrator, faculty member, and researcher with experience in community colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations. Throughout his work as a faculty member, department chair, dean, and director of national change initiatives, Glenn has focused on issues related to forging stronger collaborative efforts within and across institutions that acknowledge the contributions of individuals who are labeled “underserved.” His areas of interest include developmental education in multicultural settings, seamless linkages between public schools and higher education, inclusive policy and practices related to individuals with disabilities and their families, and the skills, knowledge, dispositions, and vision required for transforming colleges and Universities as democratic institutions. Glenn holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from Sonoma State University, a Master's degree in Linguistics from the American University, and a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. His doctoral work focused on the changes in organizational practices in Colleges of Education engaged in Professional Development School partnerships with public schools. In addition to his administrative oversight responsibilities at NERCHE, he currently serves as the director of Project Compass and recently completed work as co-principal investigator of the research component of the Community College Transfer Initiative. He has also been a co-principal investigator of a national study of service coordination for young children with disabilities and their families and a national leadership project serving parents involved in policymaking at the local, regional and national levels. Glenn was a fellow with the American Council on Education in 1991 and is a clinical adjunct assistant professor in the higher education administration program at UMass Boston. 

Sharon Singleton, Senior Program and Research Associate
sharon.singleton@umb.edu; (617) 287-7745

Sharon holds a master's degree in education from Harvard University. Sharon has worked in a number of capacities in higher education for 20 years including research, writing, and program development. Ms. Singleton has authored a many publications including articles, NERCHE Working Papers, and numerous NERCHE briefs and is the editor of the NERCHE newsletter.

Richard Iserman, Operations Associate
richard.iserman@umb.edu; (617) 287-7740

Richard is a Master’s student at the McCormack School of Public Policy at UMass Boston. He has worked in a number of IT-related capacities, most recently in wireless communication for a firm based in Pittsburgh.

Andrea Gancarz, Project Coordinator
andrea.gancarz@umb.edu; (617) 287-7670

Andrea is a doctoral student in the Department of Education, Higher Education Administration Program at UMass Boston. She holds a Master of Education degree from Cambridge College and is a Registered Dental Hygienist. She is the former Program Director of the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene. Ms. Gancarz has held a full-time faculty appointment for five years. She has experience in distance education technology and online education.

Shelby Brown, Research Assistant

Shelby Brown has been an administrator in the Connecticut Community College system for over eight years, working in human resource information systems. She has a wealth of experience in community building, having worked as a housing and youth organizer. Shelby combines her knowledge of colleges and universities with her practical expertise in communities to help higher education institutions and communities build healthy, sustainable partnerships. She earned her bachelors degree in Economics at Trinity College and is currently pursuing a masters degree in Higher Education Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She brings a passion for teaching and learning, and employing dialog processes. As well, she hopes to gain a broader appreciation for the interplay of theory and practice in contemporary issues facing higher education.

We are part of the
Graduate College of Education
at UMass Boston